Reel blade forming machine



4 Sheets-Sheet 1 A. R. COOPER REEL BLADE FORMING MACHINE June 20, 1950 Filed July 12, 1947 q; EINVENTOR. fliij/Z 1?. 00,061. 6M 96? iii N m m June 20, 1950 A. R. COOPER REEL BLADE FORMING MACHINE 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. fizzy): )2 flan 7. BY

iww z Filed July 12, 1947 June 20, 1950 A. R. COOPER REEL BLADE FORMING MACHINE Filed July 12, 1947 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTOR. 174927 )2, Koo 22: BY 1 fliis.

June 20, 1950 A. R. COOPER 2,512,224

REEL BLADE FORMING MACHINE Filed July 12, 1947 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 v uvmvron 1922 J2. 210,061.

Patented June 2 0, 1950 U N IT ED S TATES PATENT OFF! CE.

REEL BLADE FORMING MAdi'Ii'NE Allyn R. Cooper, Marshalltown, Iowa- Appli'oati'enluly 12, 1947', Serial No. 160,683

10 Claims. 1

This invention relates'toamachine for accurately forming the-twist in a' reel blade" of a lawn mower cutter reel.

One object of the invention is to provide a machine which'ior'ms a reel bladeito the proper twist and with much greater 'accuracy than has been" heretofore possiblegxwhereby' a reel blade formed'inm'y machine can be assembled in a mower reel and: will require but a minimum of grinding to bringrthe 'reel blade edges to true cylindrical form so that they can properly coact with. the ledger bar of the mower.

Another object isto'provide a machine whi'ch is rugged and durable so that'it can be usedori a production basis and. which is efii'ci'ent for maximum production, the machine beingcap able; of 5 receiving." a heated reel blade whicn l-ias beentwisted to the approximate shape desi'red and perform a .final forming. operationthereon resulting the blades coming from 'the machine: with uniform twist and with a minimunr'of re jects due to improper forming and 'of' proper hardness'for use.

Another object is to provide a forming machine in; the form of a cylindricalusurface on which a curved: and twisted reel. blade-f in heated c'on'di'-' tion may be. deposited fbetweenz opposed spirallyi arranged jaws, one of whichnisstati'onary and the the reel. blade is' co'o'led by the'jawsito a temper-' attire that. sets the shape-in the blade and gives the proper hardness. I

Stilllanother 'ohje' ct is teprovid'e the cylindrical surface with cam notches} and a hood slidable overt-he jaws, with the reel 'bla'de confined be tween: the opposed jaws and between the'opp'o'se'd hoodaandoammotches so that it is definitely post-' tioned in relation to the jawswh erebyan' ac' curate twist can be imparted to the time by reason of the j aws uniformly pressing the" blade throughout itslength under'g-reat hydraulic pres A.further object isto 'providemeansfor cool-' ing: the jaws bywaterjacketi'ng them Wherebytheblade. is cooled'to 'atemperature'that produces a set in: the blade and give's': the proper hardness in. a: minimum of time to'thereby minimize the means to" operate the reel blade.

Sti l a; further object is to provide bydraulic are straight bar s't 'ocl s' z; jaw theihoo'd and; the cylinder'havi'ng; the cam notchesth'erefii; with the jaws'tem opiated"throuh a-tbggle imkagemat progressively ifiu'lti-plie's the l'iydraulid pressure-as the jaws sqireezet reel blade between thenr' With these and. otject ifiv ew; dry invention consists inthe cdristriiction, arrange: ment' and combinationoftlie yarious' parts I of my machirfewfiereby tli objects contemplate are attained; as herein r more fully see-rerun pointed out in my arms and i-l lustr'atedin the accompanying drawingsfi'wherein: W P

Figure-is a plan'v ware reel blade forming machine embodying present invention Figure/2 is arar elevation thereof loolsin the direction of the arrow 2 adjaoent'lii'giir which is the position occupied by the operator of the machine. r M

Fis -rears an endelevation (eng nes looking inthe' direction of the arrow3Tadja centlFigiire 2 showing th jaws' in the open' position, the' operators tiorrbei'ngat'th'e left. I p Fiiiref i isa sectional vieiii' on the" lin" 4'-'4" or Figure 5" is a "sectional view on the line 5 5 of of Figure 2*showirig the parts in bladesqueezi rig position; h is m I V Figure'fi'is ane argedwiew of the rightfh end of the laws "which are shown also Figure 4,1

Fi ure 6 showing them in thefclosd position;

Figure 7 is a sectiorial view similar to Figure 5 showing the leftend of the fiaw's in'the ope'n lpost..-

tion as distinguished rmm'trle closed positibn in blade showing 'tlieirshape in onefstep ofthe" reference numeral 10 to indicate a"reel"'blaii,"

this" being tliehelically twisted" cutterbladese' eral' of whichare 'secured to 'spiders or disc a mower to for in itscut ter rejPwhichdoop'zjat withthe' ldgr'bal' (lithe mower." Thes'blad v f f-th'e "cross section st-own? with holesindicated at tdreceiiia'rivets' riveting the reerbiades 'tb thereof spider's they" are to be welded to the spiders thii's openin areo'mi'tt'ed' 7 p p dicated at I4 so that individual curved blades result that do not have twist. The blades are then twisted while cold to the approximate desired shape by forming them in any suitable type of machine for this operation which can be purchased on the open market.

These machines have hereto been used but are not very accurate as to the final shape that the blade should be. Accordingly I provide the present machine which is capable of accurately forming the approximately formed blades to their final shape with the blade as it comes from my machine having a minimum of departure from a predetermined shape.

My machine for doing this consists of a tablelike frame I6 having supporting legs I8 on which a head frame 29 is mounted. The head frame is actually a pair of side frame plates which are suitably connected together by the frame I6 and a tie bar 22. A square shaft 24 has a cylinder 26 thereon rotatable in brackets 2I supported by the end plates 20. Outside of the brackets, levers 28 are connected to the shaft 24 and are provided with slots 30 to receive actuating rollers 32.

The cylinder 26 is provided with four spirally arranged cam notches 34, only one of which is used at a time. The cylinder can be turned a quarter turn after the one notch is worn and the other three notches thus used successively before the cylinder need be replaced.

A stationary jaw 36 surrounds a portion of the cylinder 26 and a movable jaw 38 surrounds another portion thereof. These jaws are provided The hydraulic cylinder "I6 being pivoted at 80 and the linkage arrangement being as described predetermines the movement of the pivots III with the pivots 89 permitting the pivots III to follow the lower ends of the links 68. The linkage arrangement is for operating the movable jaw 38 and the movable hood 52. This is accomplished by rotatably mounting the jaw 38 on the cylinder 26, forming on the jaw at each end a downward arm-like extension 83 and forming on the hood an upward arm-like extension 90.

Toggle links 92 and 94 are pivoted to the pivots 64 and 66 and to pivots 96 and 98 carried by the arms 88 and 99. With the parts in the position shown in Figures 3 and 4, these arms are swungtoward the right, whereas when the parts are in the operated position of Figure 5 they are swung toward the left with the toggle links almost: in alignment for maximum pressure of the jaws against the reel blade in the closed position of the Jaws.

The links 68 carry triangle shaped extensions I09 projecting toward the left in Figure 3 and these projections are provided with studs I62 that carry the rollers 32, lock nuts I04 being provided to hold the studs in position. In moving from the position in Figure 4 to the position in Figure 2 5, the links 68 impart clockwise rotation to the with jaw faces 40 and 42, respectively, which are I made of hardened steel to withstand the wear. Each jaw is in the form of a hollow structure whereby the jaw is water jacketed, the jaw 36 being supported by the brackets 2I and the various inlets and outlets for the jaws being shown respectively at 44, 46, 48.and 50. Ordinary city water is used, the rate of flow being regulated to correspond with the capacity of the machine.

In conjunction with the stationary jaw a hood 52 is oscillatably mounted thereon to move from the position of Figure 4 for instance where it leaves the space between the jaws opento the position of Figure 6 covering this space. The hood is provided with a hardened face member 54 to minimize wear. The jaws 36 and 38 and the hood 52 are 0 course helically formed as will be evident from an inspection of Figures 1,2, 4 and 5. They are adapted in the open position of Figures 4 and '7 to receive the partially formed blade III therein while the blade is at the critical'hardening tom-- perature of something like 1550 F. The operator picks a blade thus heated out of the furnace with a pair of tongs and'drops it into the open jaws whereupon the jaws are closed as will hereinafter appear. I

56 and 58 on which toggle links 60 and 62 are pivoted. The brackets 2| are also mounted on the pivots 56 and 58. The toggle links carry pivots 64 and 66 with which an operating link 68 is connected. The link 68 extends downwardly to a pivot 10. The links 60, 62 and 88 are duplicated at opposite ends of the machine and there are two of the pivots III carried by a beam I2. The center of the beam I2 is connected to a piston rod. 14 which extends inside a hydraulic cylinder I6 and connects with a piston 18 therein. The hydraulic cylinder is provided with pintles 80 pivoted in brackets 82 supported by cross bars 85 of a frame 84I36 connected with the legs I 8.

The frame plates 20 are provided with pivots cylinder 26, and impart counterclockwise rotation to the hood 52 and clockwise rotation to the movable jaw 38. The rollers 32 move outwardly in the slots 36 as obvious by comparing Figure 5 with Figure 4 and the slots are inclined upwardly and inwardly thus speeding up the swinging action of the cylinder 26 to give it sufiicient movement for the cam notches 34 to move from the position of Figure 4 to the position of Figure 5 thus camming the reel blades out tightly against the hood.

The ends of the beam 72 normally rest on levers I06 pivoted at I98 (see Figure 3) which levers are supported on shock absorbers III) of spring type, the springs being shown at I I2. Thus when the beam returns to the lowered position as shown its movement is checked by the shock absorbers.

The hydraulic cylinder 16 has lower and upper hydraulic connections H3 and H4 which may be connected with a hydraulic system, such as shown diagrammatically in Figure 2. Oil under pressure is supplied at I I6 as by means of a pump and returned at I I8 to a reservoir in a well-known manner. A four-way valve I 2|] serves to illustrate how the cylinder can be controlled, the valve being shown in the position for returning the piston I8 to the lower end of its stroke.

The valve I20 has a lever I22 extending therefrom and terminating in a foot pedal I24. Thelever is normally held against a stop I 26 by a. spring I28. When the pedal is depressed as to thedotted position, the oil flow is reversed for sup-- plying oil to the hydraulic line H3 and permits. its return from the line I I4.

A timer I 39 is connected with the pedal I22 as. by a link I32. The timer is designed so that at. the expiration of a predetermined time period it will release the foot pedal so that it returns; to the initial position. The timer can be set as.v

desired by a dial I34. Timing of course depends. on such factors as the quality of the steel, its temperature when placed in the machine, the--' the end of the forming operation in my machine.

In one type of steel I have found that this tem-a .into intimate contact with the blade l0.

perature can be about 850 'F. as the reel blade has taken. its set by. thetime it reamesth s fill'ilr peratureand will not warp he eai r when s. b; sequently heated o the ecess rr temnerati e n tempering the blade.

p, Practical operation g In. the o e at o r m mach ne herein r remnant-mac po it n of Fi re 3. w th the jaws open to receivea reel blade which has been-rough iorm d t he ital hapeg Thelbla after being heated to whatevertempera m is 'jawface 42 on the reel blade. Ill. and forces, it

a ainst the stationary j w: ac 0 and. l th Game. time moves. the hood face 54 ,from, the position of Fi ures. 4 and 7 to the position of; Figures 5-: and 6, thereby completely closing the jaws around the reel blade. At the same time. the

cylinder 26 is rotated clockwise tothe. position of. Figures 5 and 6 which; causes the cam notch 3.4; in engagement with the. lower edge of; the blade to force the. blade outwardly totheperiphcry of the cylinder 26. The periphery forms the fourth side of the enclosure. for the blade. The blade. is thus, confinedin a definite space. which is of the proper helical twist to impart torthe blades identical twists with maximum accuracy.

The parts of course are. so, dimen i ned tha when. the togglelinks arealmost ondead: center as. in Figure 5 the movable jaw has been. stopped bythe reel blade itself and tremendous. DIQSSul can beexerted on it uniformly; throughout its length by the face 42. Inthe machineasdesigned this pressure is on the order of seventons which can be. practically secured by the. linkage. ar-

rangement, the hydraulic arrangement-and. the

construction of. themachine. with rugged frame elements and operating parts. This high pressure also brings the jaw faces 40 and 42, which are cooled by conduction from the jaws 36 and 38, The jaws themselves are cooled by the water which constantly flows through their jackets to carry away the absorbed heat. This results in less time required in the machine for predetermined cooling of the blades to a temperature. where jaws, thus insuringuniformity and speeding. up production by minimizing the possibility of human erroras would be the case if the operator were depended upon to manually hold the. pedal I24 in depressed position during the desired timing period. This period is approximately 18 seconds in a machine of the kind herein disclosed which has been in practical operation for some time.

From the foregoing specification it is obvious that I have provided a machine which can accurately form a reel blade as to its helical twist with maximum accuracy which results in a minimum of finishing operations after the blades are formed. The blades are mounted on the reel spiders after they have been formed and hardened and must then be trued up so that th y present a true cylindrical surface to cooperate with the ledger bar in the mower. I have. found with blades. formed. as herein, disclQsed a 55 .5% 1 t 10 w 8. of the grinder throughout the length of the reel is all that is necessary, whereas with reel blades formed in machines of the prior art several passes were necessary. before the outeredges of the blades present a true cylindrical shape. Allof these factors of course contribute tothe-speedins p, of. p due on nd ham im m of pr ductionin relation to thenumber of ma .hours and. m hio urs r ui d:f r finisned; rqdr uct.

s me qha s smar e na en he ons rue: n 1 r an emen i b? a s'q mrmatll ae without departing from the real spirit. and purge f, my nv n i a. d s t nded-t0 se en-by my el im anr s ifi d rms is ol t rd o s mec a ic ;eq va ts hiehimar be reasonably included withintheir scope.

I claim as my invention:

A. reela la fi m n m ch e; omprisi Y acyl n era a t d o su port a lade-a d Br v ffi le i h a c m n tchh ica y rran ed an ir of: jaws. re t e y o abl and. avin b lie-ally opposed faeesadjacent, saidan; notch, ahooo n rmally: p itioned with said jaws open: nd adapted to. cooperate, therewith to 1 receiveia; helically. twisted; reel blade.- w en aid laws; are closed, said jaws. and hood: being-7 mountedwfer rotation. around said cylinder, andameans to. re atively. move. said. jaws. toward eachv other. to movesaidhoodover the jawsv to enclose theiblade between the jaws. andhooct and to rotate. said cylinder in a directionfcr said. cam. notch to propel said blade outwardly toccnfine its-edges between the cylinder andthe hood;

2'. In. a reel'blade forming machine, a cylindrical blade support provided-with a cam notch helically arranged, apair oi-jaws relatively movable andhaving helicalwopposed facesiadjacerrt said cam notch, a hood element normally positioned with saidwjaws open. and adapted-=to cooperate therewithto receive a helically twisted reel blade when saidjaws are closed, said jaws and. hood being mounted to rotate. around the axesof said blade support and meansto-relatively move said jaws towardaeaclr other, said: hood element overthe jaws, and said-cylindrical blade support rotatably in a directionion propelling said blade outwardly: toward said hood.

3. A reel blade forming machine comprising a blade supporting cylinder, a. pair opjawsrelatively movable and having helically opposed faces adjacent the surface of said cylinder; a hood: normally positioned with said" jaws open and: adapted; in conjunctiontherewith, to receive a helically twisted reel blade upon closure of said-jaws, and means to relativelymove said. jaws toward each other and said-hood-over the jaws to enclose the blade betweenthe jaws and hood; said jaws and hood during such movement rotating about the axis ofsaidcylindet.

4'; A reel blade forming machine comprising a blade supporting cylindrical element-g provided with a cam-notchhelical'ly arranged; a pairof asides;

jaws to enclose the blade between the jaws and hood and said cylindrical element rotatably in a direction for propelling said blade outwardly to confine its edges between said elementand said hood, said means comprising an operating linkage connected with said hood and cylinder, and with said jaws by means of toggle links and hydraulic means for operating said linkage.

5. In a reel blade forming machine, a blade supporting cylinder, a pair of jaws relatively movable and having helically opposed faces adjacent said cam notch, a hood normally positioned with said jaws open and adapted to receive a helically twisted reel blade in conjunction with said jaws when they are closed, and means to relatively rotate said jaws toward each other and said hood over the jaws to enclose the blade between the jaws and hood, the axis of rotation being coincident with the axis of said cylinder, said means comprising an operating linkage connected with said hood and jaws by means of toggle links.

6. A reel blade forming machine comprising a blade supporting cylinder provided with a cam notch helically arranged, a pair of jaws relatively movable and having helically opposed faces adjacent said cam notch, a hood normally positioned with said jaws open and adapted to receive a helically twisted reel blade in conjunction with said jaws when they are closed, and means to relatively rotate said jaws about the cylinder axis and toward each other, rotate said hood about the cylinder axis and over the jaws to enclose the blade between the jaws and hood, and rotate said cylinder in a direction for its cam notch to propel said blade outwardly to confine it edges between the cylinder and the hood, said means comprising an operating linkage and hydraulic means for operating said linkage.

7. A reel blade forming machine comprising a blade supporting cylinder provided with a cam notch helically arranged, a pair of jaws relatively movable and having helically opposed faces adjacent said cam notch, a hood element normally positioned with said jaws open and adapted to receive, in conjunction therewith when said jaws are closed, a helically twisted reel blade, and means to relatively move said jaws rotatably about the cylinder axis and toward each other and said hood about the cylinder axis and over the jaws to enclose the blade between the jaws and hood, said last means also rotating said cylinder in a direction for propelling said blade outwardly to confine its edges between the cylinder and the hood, said means comprising an operating linkage connected with said hood and cylinder and with said jaws by means of toggle links, and hydraulic means for operating said linkage.

8. A reel blade forming machine comprising a cylindrical blade supporting element provided with a cam notch helically arranged, a pair of jaws relatively movable and having helically opposed faces adjacent said cam notch, a hood element normally positioned with said jaws open and adapted to receive, in conjunction therewith when said jaws are closed, a helically twisted reel blade, and means to relatively move said jaws and said hood about the axis of said element, said jaws toward each other and said hood over the jaws, to enclose the blade between the jaws and hood, said last means also rotating said element in a direction for propelling said blade outwardly to confine its edges between the cylinder and the hood, said means comprising an operating linkage connected with said hood and cylinder and with said jaws by means of toggle links, hydraulic means for operating said linkage, and means for controlling said hydraulic means, said last means being manually operable to position for effecting closure of the jaws and hood and movement of said cylindrical element, and time operated means to operate said hydraulic means in the opposite direction at the end of a selected time period.

9. A reel blade'forming machine comprising a blade supporting cylinder, a pair of jaws relatively movable and having helically opposed faces adjacent said cylinder, a hood element normally positioned with said jaws open and thereby adapted to receive a helically twisted reel blade, and means to relatively move said jaws toward each other and said hood'over the jaws to enclose the blade between the cylinder, jaws and hood, said means comprising hydraulic means, control means therefor manually operable to position for efiecting closure of the jaws and hood, andtimer operated means to release said hydraulic means at the end of a selected time period.

10. A reel blade forming machine comprising a blade support, a pair of jaws relatively movable and having helically opposed faces adjacent said support, a hood element normally positioned with saidjaws open and thereby adapted to receive a helically twisted reel blade, and means to relatively move said jaws toward each other and said hood over the jaws to enclose the blade between said support, jaws and hood, control means therefor manually operable to position for efiecting closure of the jaws and hood, and timer operated means torelease said jaw and hood moving means at the end of a selected time period.

4 ALLYN R. COOPER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the idle of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 269,655 Fiske Dec. 26, 1882 340,024 Williams Apr. 13, 1886 843,203 Frey Feb. 5, 1907 1,004,801 Marsh Oct. 3, 191-1 1,018,676 Mulvey Feb. 27, 1912 1,696,849 Kelleher Dec.25, 1928 2,009,737 Kulas et al. July 30, 1935 2,441,275 Keagle May 11, 1948 2,461,034 Castle Feb. 8, 1949 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 366,086 Germany Dec. 28, 1922 

